Fortunately, most of these are very uncommon. In fact according to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery 2004 Consensus Statement 1, the operative morbidity (complications) associated with gastric banding in the hands of an experienced surgeon is less than 5% and the risk of dying during the procedure (operative mortality) is approximately 0.1% (1:1000)1. For gastric bypass in the hands of a skilled surgeon the operative morbidity is around 5% and mortality around 0.5% (1:200).

Clearly these risks cannot be ignored. However, they have to be set against the health risks associated with obesity – heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer etc. Evidence suggests that an obese 20-year-old man may have his life expectancy cut by as many as 13 years compared with normal-weight people2. For an obese 20-year-old woman, the reduction is 8 years. Even at 40 years of age, obese males and females lose approximately 7 years of life expectancy3.

Hence if you have a serious weight problem, the risks of a surgical intervention may be very much smaller than the risk of doing nothing.

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The information within this guide to obesity surgery is provided by Healthier Weight. Intuition Communication Ltd bears no responsibility for information published in this guide. Read Disclaimer in full.